"Work is important, but my greatest passion is my personal life," she tells Lucky for its September cover story, on newsstands Aug. 6. "With film and TV, you don't see the results for months. Building a home, you get immediate gratification."

Lively, 25, has taken a pause from acting at the moment, and happily swapped trips to the set with trips to Home Depot as she and Reynolds feather their nest in quaint Bedford, N.Y.

Fortunately for her, she has the perfect partner to bounce off ideas on everything from furniture to fixtures.

"I'm very lucky to be with someone who has better taste than me," she tells the mag. "We influence each other in different ways."

Courtesy Lucky

The couple purchased their home – located around the corner from pal Martha Stewart's pad – last April, and have been spotted everywhere from Anthropologie to antique shops "looking for something unique, that no one else has that reflects her design style, which is modern traditional with a twist," a source told PEOPLE last year.

Lively admits her overall style has changed since she's gotten married – and that's not a bad thing.

"I was recently asked how my style has changed since I got married, as if I was living under some sort of dictatorship," she told Lucky with a laugh. "I should hope I dress differently at 25 than I did when I graduated high school. I hope I never stop changing."